Travel Records for Bronwyn Bishop
Dear Department of Finance,
I would like to request under the Freedom of Information Act the COMCAR and hire car records for former politician, Mrs Bronwyn Bishop between March 2009 and December 25, 2010 in relation to travel in regional NSW.
As well as the usual travel entitlement reports for that period, I am also seeking copies of the actual bookings entered into the COMCAR reservations database including those transferred to government contracted hire car companies.
Please limit the scope to include only travel involving visits which include any the following locations: Mudgee, Wollar, Ulan and the Bylong Valley region of NSW.
Yours faithfully,
Evelyn Doyle
Thank you for your email to the Freedom of Information Team at the
Department of Finance.
An officer will respond to your email shortly. In the meantime, if you
have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact the FOI Team on (02)
6215 1783.
Kind regards,
FOI Officer, Legal and Assurance Branch
Business Enabling Services
Department of Finance
T: 02 6215 1783 E: [Finance request email]
A: One Canberra Avenue, Forrest ACT 2603
Thank you for your email, which has been forwarded to the Department’s FOI
Team for their consideration. A member of the FOI Team will respond to
your email in the next couple of days.
Kind regards
FOI Coordinator
UNCLASSIFIED
Dear Mr Doyle,
Freedom of Information Request – FOI 19/78
Thank you for your email to the Department of Finance (Finance) requesting
access to the following under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI
Act).
I would like to request under the Freedom of Information Act the COMCAR
and hire car records for former politician, Mrs Bronwyn Bishop between
March 2009 and December 25, 2010 in relation to travel in regional NSW.
As well as the usual travel entitlement reports for that period, I am also
seeking copies of the actual bookings entered into the COMCAR reservations
database including those transferred to government contracted hire car
companies.
Please limit the scope to include only travel involving visits which
include any the following locations: Mudgee, Wollar, Ulan and the Bylong
Valley region of NSW.
Your request was received by Finance on 1 August 2019. The statutory
period for processing your request commences from the day after Finance
received your request. This matter is due on 31 September 2019.
The processing period may be extended if we need to consult third parties,
impose a charge or for other reasons. We will advise you if this happens.
Liability to pay a charge
You will be notified of any charges in relation to your request as soon as
possible, before we process any requested documents or impose a final
charge.
Publication
As required by the FOI Act, any documents provided to you under the FOI
Act will be published on our [1]disclosure log, unless an exemption
applies or the documents are characterised as containing personal
information. Documents will be published within one working day after they
are released to you.
Policy to exclude junior officer contact details and signatures
Finance has adopted a policy to generally exclude from any documents
released under FOI, the names and contact details of junior staff (non-SES
officers) and staff employed under the Members of Parliament (Staff) Act
1984 (adviser level and below). Finance has also adopted a policy to
exclude signatures from any documents released under FOI (unless publicly
available). Finance’s preference is to reach agreement with FOI applicants
to exclude these details from the scope of the request. Where there is no
objection, the names and contact details of junior officers, as well as
any signatures appearing in identified documents, will be redacted under
section 22 of the FOI Act on the basis that these details are irrelevant
to the request.
Please contact the FOI Team on the below contact details if you wish to
discuss your request.
Kind regards,
FOI Officer
[2]cid:image001.jpg@01D20F6A.F1CA1B30
FOI Officer, Legal and Assurance Branch
Business Enabling Services
Department of Finance
T: 02 6215 1783
E: [3][Finance request email]
A: One Canberra Avenue, Forrest ACT 2603
UNCLASSIFIED
References
Visible links
1. http://www.finance.gov.au/foi/disclosure...
3. mailto:[Finance request email]
Dear Finance FOI team
Thank you for your response to my FOI request dated 01 August 2019.
I note the due date in your response is listed as 31 September 2019, however my understanding is (as outlined in your response) that there is a 30 day processing time from the day after the request was received.
This would make the due date for a response 02 September 2019. It may have just been a typo, but I would like to confirm the due date.
Many thanks.
Yours sincerely,
Evelyn Doyle
Thank you for your email, which has been forwarded to the Department’s FOI
Team for their consideration. A member of the FOI Team will respond to
your email in the next couple of days.
Kind regards
FOI Coordinator
UNCLASSIFIED
Hi Ms Doyle,
Thank you for writing to us and noticing the timeframe error. You are correct - there is a typo in the acknowledgement. I confirm a due date for your request is 31 August 2019.
We will be in touch shortly, as advised in the acknowledgement email, if the processing period is extended for consultation etc.
Kind regards,
Finance FOI Team
UNCLASSIFIED
UNCLASSIFIED
Dear Ms Doyle,
I refer to your email, dated 1 August 2019, in which you sought the
following documents under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act):
I would like to request under the Freedom of Information Act the COMCAR
and hire car records for former politician, Mrs Bronwyn Bishop between
March 2009 and December 25, 2010 in relation to travel in regional NSW.
As well as the usual travel entitlement reports for that period, I am also
seeking copies of the actual bookings entered into the COMCAR reservations
database including those transferred to government contracted hire car
companies.
Please limit the scope to include only travel involving visits which
include any the following locations: Mudgee, Wollar, Ulan and the Bylong
Valley region of NSW.
Finance acknowledged receipt of your request on 15 August 2019.
Transfer of request, in part, under section 16 of the FOI Act
As you may be aware, the Independent Parliamentary Expenses Authority
(IPEA) is responsible for travel expenses and travel allowances, including
hire car expenses. Accordingly, IPEA will hold documents (if any) relating
to hire car records of Ms Bronwyn Bishop. On this basis, Finance has
transferred your request in part to IPEA on the following terms:
… the hire car records for former politician, Mrs Bronwyn Bishop between
March 2009 and December 25, 2010 in relation to travel in regional NSW. As
well as the usual travel entitlement reports for that period, I am also
seeking copies of the actual bookings transferred to government contracted
hire car companies. Please limit the scope to include only travel
involving visits which include any the following locations: Mudgee,
Wollar, Ulan and the Bylong Valley region of NSW.
The FOI team at IPEA will be in contact with you accordingly. If you have
any queries, you can contact them at [1][email address].
Revised scope to be processed by Finance and results of searches
undertaken
Finance will process your request, for COMCAR records, on the following
terms:
… the COMCAR records for former politician, Mrs Bronwyn Bishop between
March 2009 and December 25, 2010 in relation to travel in regional NSW. As
well as the usual travel entitlement reports for that period, I am also
seeking copies of the actual bookings entered into the COMCAR reservations
database. Please limit the scope to include only travel involving visits
which include any the following locations: Mudgee, Wollar, Ulan and the
Bylong Valley region of NSW.
Searches undertaken indicate that Finance does not hold COMCAR records for
Mrs Bishop in the locations specified, for the date period specified.
On that basis, please confirm if you would like Finance to proceed to make
a formal FOI decision that we hold no documents, or alternatively confirm
if you would like to withdraw your request. If Finance does not hear from
you by Monday, 26 August 2019 indicating your preferred way forward, we
will consider your request withdrawn.
Kind regards
FOI Officer
[2]cid:image001.jpg@01D20F6A.7457D930
FOI Officer, Legal and Assurance Branch
Business Enabling Services
Department of Finance
T: 02 6215 1783 E: [3][Finance request email]
A: One Canberra Avenue, Forrest ACT 2603
UNCLASSIFIED
References
Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]
3. mailto:[Finance request email]
Dear FOI Team
Thank you for your response. From older transaction details found on the internet, I note that Bronwyn Bishop travelled to Mudgee on 12 Jan 2010 and had hire cars up to 12 Jan 2010, so I was seeking the actual bookings from the Comcar database or hire car records of trips during that time.
As IPEA is responsible for handling these queries I will withdraw my request from Finance and provide a new request myself to IPEA as it is now linked and can be accessed via the Right to Know website.
As such I formally withdraw this request.
Yours sincerely,
Evelyn Doyle
Thank you for your email, which has been forwarded to the Department’s FOI
Team for their consideration. A member of the FOI Team will respond to
your email in the next couple of days.
Kind regards
FOI Coordinator
Dear Finance FOI Team,
Just a second confirmation of my withdrawal of this request as prompted by the RTK website.
Yours faithfully,
Evelyn Doyle
Thank you for your email, which has been forwarded to the Department’s FOI
Team for their consideration. A member of the FOI Team will respond to
your email in the next couple of days.
Kind regards
FOI Coordinator
UNCLASSIFIED
Thank you for your confirmation, Ms Doyle. We will treat your request as withdrawn.
We look forward to hearing from you in the future.
Kind regards
FOI Officer
FOI Officer, Legal and Assurance Branch
Business Enabling Services
Department of Finance
T: 02 6215 1783 E: [Finance request email]
A: One Canberra Avenue, Forrest ACT 2603
UNCLASSIFIED
UNCLASSIFIED
Dear Ms Doyle
Please see attached correspondence relating to your FOI Request 20/06.
Kind regards
FOI Coordinator
Transparency, Assurance and Legal Branch
Independent Parliamentary Expenses Authority
UNCLASSIFIED
UNCLASSIFIED
Dear Ms Doyle
As requested, I am now forwarding the decision in respect of your FOI Request 20/06 to this Right to Know email address.
Kind regards
UNCLASSIFIED
FOI Coordinator
Transparency, Assurance and Legal Branch
Independent Parliamentary Expenses Authority
UNCLASSIFIED
Dear Ms Doyle
As requested, I am now forwarding the decision in respect of your FOI Request 20/06 to this Right to Know email address.
Kind regards
UNCLASSIFIED
FOI Coordinator
Transparency, Assurance and Legal Branch
Independent Parliamentary Expenses Authority